A Practical Treatise on Brewing/Refrigerators
REFRIGERATORS.
The use of refrigerators for cooling the worts has now become very prevalent. It is, however, rather a doubtful point, whether an indiscriminate use of them does not do more harm than good. In the refrigerators first constructed the worts were passed through the pipes, and the cold water was applied to the outside. These, from the difficulty of cleaning and other causes, were found to be injurious, and are now succeeded by others in which the cold water runs through the pipes, and the worts are on the outside.
The more simply refrigerators can be constructed the better: they ought also to be made of one metal only, and that unconnected with other metals. We thus run less risk of any electro-chemical agency, which should always be guarded against, as much as possible, in every department of the brewery. Even with the best constructed refrigerators, it will be found that when the worts are sent through them at high temperatures, they will appear of a greyish or whey colour when running into the square. This always denotes unsoundness to a certain extent, or that some change has taken place in the nature of the worts, which will be found prejudicial in as far as regards a regular fermentation. However desirable, therefore, refrigerators may be for saving time, we are inclined to think that fans or blowers are by much the safer instruments for cooling worts.
Worts when kept in a constant state of agitation in the coolers, are much less liable to become tainted than when allowed to remain stationary: fans or blowers keep them constantly in agitation, and when a proper quantity of hop-dreg is passed over into the coolers along with the worts, little danger need be apprehended.
Many brewers make it an invariable rule, both in summer and winter, to commence brewing at a very early hour in the morning. A little reflection, however, will convince them that in hot weather, it is much better to commence at a much later period of the day; by so doing they will have the advantage of night for cooling their worts, and with the assistance of fans or blowers, they can at all events, with few exceptions, get their worts to a temperature of 60° before letting them run into the gyle-tun. This temperature, in hot weather, is as low as it would be desirable to go, unless the tun rooms can at all times be kept considerably under the temperature of the atmosphere.
Fans or blowers, therefore, may be considered, for the reasons above stated, preferable to the best refrigerators.